Dragons in Distress
by Yosothy
Summary: Xellos did not enjoy being baited by pesky dragons, especially when the bait is a particular golden dragon herself. XelFi
1. Part 1

The fountain in the village square had stopped working just moments before Xellos' arrival. Rhodia's antiquated sewage system had been damaged to a great extent by the warfare that had plagued the countryside for the last two years. To the mazoku's disgust, the broken spout still had brown, discolored liquid trickling from the clawed face of the cherub.

It was a shame. Xellos leaned against the edge of the basin and looked into the contaminated water with a frown. He had hoped to wander into the small town looking like a weary traveler. Though he knew as a mazoku the water would cause no harm to his fashioned body, Xellos also figured that any reasonable human being would not drink from a public water source such as this. It would only give his identity away.

Which was really at the heart of the current matter. The priest stifled a harsh glare when an elderly woman carefully peeking out from her window squeaked at his appearance. Instead of causing her home to crumble around her he casually walked up to the window feigning exhaustion.

"Excuse me, but I require assistance." He said, tapping at her window. But the curtains were furiously shut. It dawned on Xellos that _perhaps_ the fair humans of this town remembered him from his last visit before the war.

Well, that would make things difficult.

"GO AWAY!" The old woman's hoarse voice called out. "We have _nothing_ for you here!"

_Aaah_. Xellos thought, suddenly remembering an incident between himself and another which resulted in the destruction of three buildings in a heated argument. _Must be old lady Grazie._

One of the buildings demolished had been her flower shop. Though he recalled it had been rebuilt on a subsequent visit for tea to his favorite dragon. The mazoku priest examined the current buildings for any sign of business but was dismayed that the signs were replaced with something about rations.

That meant the woman ignored a weary traveler. He was sure that was illegal in this county during war.

"Now, now!" He said with mock cheer. "You can't pretend that a weakened priest such as I do not require assistance! I am _quite_ thirsty. Perhaps a bit of tea or-"

Grazie, with the force he remembered, flung the front door open and pointed a broom at his face.

Because that was _so_ going to work. However, Xellos could tell by the sweat on her forehead that she knew her threat was quite pointless. But she was not that careless, he remembered, so he wondered why she was even trying to confront him. Everyone else seemed to be holed up inside their homes for some reason.

"I know your kind, and I know what you want." She said. "I had no idea what you were until Miss Filia warned us after the war began. I _thought_ you were just a friend of hers from before she settled down. I was mistaken."

Xellos' brows rose in slight agitation. He felt a monologue coming on; elderly humans' stories were almost as bad as dragons in the last few moments of their lives before Xellos made work of them. He hoped it would not last _too_ long. The Mace and Vase shop was still two buildings and streets behind this one. At this rate, in his irritation, he'd blast the woman's head off and hint to the owner of the shop that he was in town. Or something. It had been a trying week.

"-but I have _no idea_ why you are here now." She said, after exhausting quite a few other dialogues. "Did you come to kill our dragon?"

If Xellos had any intention of doing so in this war between her kind and his she would have already perished.

"Of course not!" He spoke cheerfully. "I just came for tea!"

It had been difficult enough ensuring that no other monster came upon this village while he dealt with the dragons inside the barrier. After all, she had made no allegiance to her kind after the death of Val by their hands, so there was really no reason executing her alongside her kin.

It would be pertinent to have at least a few dragons around. Not a population large enough to allow for out of control breeding of course, but a manageable number should their prophecies ever prove fruitful again. Deep Sea Dolphin was hardly reliable in her foresight or sanity even when she chose to will herself to his mistress' side.

But this village, in Xellos' absence, had fallen under hard times from the effect of war; human civilizations fell into a state of panic and began to fight amongst themselves. Yet he cared little for Rhodia or its residents, he came merely to visit the dragon he chose to tolerate for his own humor while drinking tea. It had been a rather taxing summer season of dragon slaying, especially this last week, and he had plenty of taunts at his disposal. Two years going unused...

Perhaps it would cause her to feel something other than blank and boring emptiness. The death of Val was rather recent. She still teared up even a year after his passing; just months before the war. Xellos hoped to agitate her enough to cause a riot. Perhaps he should not have abstained from seeing her for so long; he just did not want to have to deal with an angry dragon he had no need to kill.

Grazie's frown unsettled him. "You really don't know?"

Xellos blinked.

"Miss Filia is gone."

"She left?" Well, that was news to Xellos. He had been sure the spells he left on the town went unnoticed by the golden dragon; he specially crafted them so she could not trace or undo them without him knowing and skip town. And to do so in the middle of a war?

It bothered him immensely that she was able to one-up him on something he took particular attention towards.

Now where was he to have tea? Xellos was not sure he had the time to track her down today.

Grazie's wrinkled lip quivered in what appeared to be the pesky emotion of heartbreak. He recalled it well when he had visited Filia shortly after hearing of Val's death. The look was hardly as becoming on this hag as it had been on the golden dragon priestess.

"Filia did not say goodbye?" He nearly chuckled. Was the woman that close to her neighbor? Xellos knew that she had been a sort of celebrity in this village, but _really_. Affection was quite silly; it allowed for ill judgment and tears, something his kind never had to worry about in war.

"You fool!" Grazie howled, bawling into the sleeve of her tunic. "_They_ took her!"

Xellos' eyes parted and shone with such malice that the old woman was taken aback. "_Who?_"

Had lesser of his kind decided to tempt his crueler ways of murder? To disobey his orders was madness. Xellos did a cursory background check on the spells he put upon this village. There was simply no way that a mazoku could have undid them without his notice; and any mazoku of power capable of doing so would not bother with Filia anyway, as it would require an extensive probe while being within the borders of his detection. The only beings who could do that without his notice were humans and-

"Dragons!" Grazie sputtered suddenly. "_Dragons_ took her! Her own kind! They kidnapped poor Miss Filia and destroyed half the town in the attempt!"

Xellos clenched his fist, in complete disbelief that this could happen. That dragons would _dare_. While they could certainly get in without his notice they could only dispel it or remove Filia by_looking_ for it. And no simple dragon such as Filia could manage that level of magic.

"I _thought_ you were a mazoku!" The old woman stammered. "But why are you so angry? Do you intend to save Miss Filia?"

Xellos turned away from Grazie without a word.

What _would_ he do? Xellos had not the time to go seeking her out, to go and save her. What was the worst that could happen? She was not an ancient dragon so her existence was not a threat to her kind and it was not in his nature to go rescuing dragons in distress.

But he _did_ feel slighted. It was as if, and it was even ridiculous to consider this, that the dragons were trying to bait him by using her.

"You must _hurry_!" Grazie said. "They took her just last week, and I think they were considering execution for some crime!"

_Hmph_. Xellos figured he'd have to deal with this unexpected intrusion upon his dragon slaying with prompt.

Filia owed him two years worth of tea.


	2. Part 2

Being a mazoku meant that Xellos was a naturally suspicious being. His kind were the sort which would betray each other when necessary. But of course, the real danger was in dealing with the true enemy of the century: dragons.

Unlike humans dragon society practically revolved around studying and destroying mazoku kind. The _golden_ dragon variety excelled in this matter. Xellos was sure after a comment from Filia many years prior to all this that he had a particularly interesting textbook about his very person. She had mentioned that there were entire scholars debating how to discover and implement a way for his demise.

Filia had even teased that it had been her most beloved book.

To Xellos it was a honor that he had made such a profound impact on her species. His mistress had found it hilarious and demanded that he find the very title when he told her. Unfortunately, Xellos had never succeeded in procuring the volume. Perhaps Filia had even lied about such a book being in existence since she did not have her own copy. Though Xellos had not doubted that there was at least an entire unit devoted to him in a dragon history book somewhere.

But the disappointment disappeared the moment he the mouthful title of a specific book.

"Methods for Counteracting the Mazoku Menace Xellos..." He read as he ran his gloved finger on the elaborately decorated spine. The book was bound by hand with gold leafing and had been placed in a very well lit display alcove of the library. Xellos found this flattering; half of the holy books were not even showcased with such prominence!

Despite what these dragons had done Xellos decided to kill them quickly today. Healthy respect of himself by the inferior race was the best tool for self preservation.

Opening the book Xellos found the following sentence: "It is impossible to kill Xellos alone or even in air strike battalions of humble size."

While it was true that the book contained celebrated theories on how Xellos could be destroyed they all seemed to be just... _theories_. Some could work of course; Xellos was no fool. He could die. It was just unlikely that any dragon could succeed.

The passages of the book thrilled him and it would be some time before he was brought back to the world and the temple he came to purge.

"_By Aqualord Ragradia!_" A young dragon's sudden exclamation was what did the trick. A scrawny man who seemed to have considerably more trouble controlling his appearance than Filia. His tail swung about erratically and his nose seemed almost animalistic.

"What are you doing _here_?"

The dragon's mouth was agape as if seeing a mazoku in the temple library was more extraordinary than finding one in the loo. Though Xellos _had_ briefly considered being discovered there until he remembered the book.

"Hello!" He greeted, offering a hand. "I was just reading this incredibly interesting book about-"

"Don't touch that!" The dragon made to grab the book after seeing its title but Xellos was faster. The mazoku floated into the air and stared down at his enemy with a suspiciously jovial smirk. "_Please_... give it back!"

"Why? Afraid I might come across your _secret_ method on bringing about my end?" Xellos asked. "I'm quite flattered though. Not even my mistress has her own book!"

Xellos knew at that moment that he needed to go on genocidal sprees more often. He even wondered if humans would deign to pen a tome on his ventures. But _this_ book even looked recent and updated! Perhaps that recent incident six months ago necessitated a subsequent chapter.

With exasperation the dragon's hands spread out about him though he looked every bit as terrified as Xellos expected him to be. "If you came to save the traitor to our kind why are you here in the library?"

Xellos chuckled. "I heard a rumor about this book. I had to see for myself."

"But that's ridiculous." The dragon looked distraught... as if the very core principles of everything he knew was shaken. "Shouldn't you be trying to save the girl?"

Xellos wondered what drivel the dragons were teaching their youth.

"I'm a mazoku."

The response did not seem to elicit the reaction Xellos expected or satisfy the dragon. He looked up at the enemy of his kind with a confused look.

Without warning Xellos' eyes shut open showing every dark intention he had in store for the poor dragon. "I don't enjoy being baited... for _any_ reason."

A huge explosion rocked the small temple and the library was completely destroyed. In the mere moment it took for Xellos to rid the world of one less nosy dragon he also destroyed thousands of years worth of knowledge acquired by dragonkind.

Not that he cared. He had the book he desired tucked safely in the crook of his arm.

But with the explosion came the alert to other dragons that Xellos had arrived. Dozens of golden dragons flocked to the skies and blocked the sun. The mazoku waved the book at the elders with a smirk. They descended down on him with such vengeance that it nearly brought Xellos to clap his hands in joy.

Just as their laser breath fired upon him Xellos disappeared from sight and the beams flew through the air and destroyed a tower of the temple in his wake.

Xellos reappeared in the temple proper. Though the dragons may have believed he would have been unable to pierce their defense they were sadly deluded. He was too powerful for their wards... even _if_ they weakened him considerably the dragons would stand no chance against him with the numbers and knowledge they had.

The main hall of prayer was breathtaking. Lit with thousands of candles and fashioned with beautiful bas-reliefs of dragon history. Had Xellos been anything other than a mazoku he would feel ashamed for the damage he intended to wreak upon this temple.

Beyond him sat a blonde-haired woman in front of Ragradia's main statue. She was not bound in chains like he expected but sat lifelessly with her hair covering her pale face.

Dragons stood guard around her.

In a sing-song voice Xellos called her name.

"Fil-lia!"

The dragoness made no sign that she had heard him. Xellos knew that she was awake. It miffed the mazoku. How could she ignore him?

He decided to break her favorite tea set when he took her home.

The guards charged forward at his voice but Xellos made quick work of them, as he had previously pledged. But when he noticed that Filia still had not acknowledged what was happening around her he stopped.

_Should_ he drag out their misery? Had her hearing been damaged but those ridiculous things she covered her delightful ears with?

He let his energy spread like a wave across the room, examining Filia for any injury. But she was unharmed and she did not appear to be under a non-consensual spell.

The remaining dragon guarding Filia flew at Xellos with full force. In a show of unusually cruel force he caught the poor dragon by her neck and flung her to the ground. She screamed as Xellos' staff pierced her lungs multiple times and writhed in agony.

But Filia still did not move.

Obviously Filia did not remember the incident with Valgaav as much as he anticipated. Would _anything_ work to get her attention?

In his anger Xellos gave one last disturbing pierce of the staff through the windpipe of the enemy dragon before leaving her to die slowly rasping for breath.

He made his way over to Filia tentatively as if expecting her to suddenly lunge at him in anger for his actions against her kind. But she did not do as he hopped so Xellos dropped down beside her.

Xellos was able to make out a barely audible sob. He lifted her chin with his gloved hand and gave her a false smile when her eyes came to level with his.

"Are you _still_ upset?" He asked, completely annoyed. "Val died _years_ ago. It's no fun to see you like this. You don't even throw anything."

Sure; Xellos liked the mass of negative emotions that surged from Filia's being after the first few days of the death of her son. It filled him with enough energy to help start a war. But eventually she became empty... lifeless... and _boring_.

He was just not used to that kind of Filia. Tea time was subdued. She did not even want to talk about Lina's grandchildren mucking up Sairaag.

The dragoness' sobs grew louder. "Years? _Years_? Who could forget the blackened face of their dead child?"

Filia fell upon herself and did not look up at him again for some time. Xellos could sense the dragons trying to get past the wreckage he had caused to seal the room until he sorted his dragon to order. They only had a few minutes... and this was _boring_. Was Filia broken? She had to be. Perhaps it was even pointless coming here.

Xellos looked down at Filia and frowned. She had not fought the dragons when they had come for her. She had not even fought him since the time he saw her last. Had Filia really been in this state for two years? He knew that she almost never left town in her hollowed state... but this was just ridiculous.

"We should go." Xellos grabbed her wrist and attempted to pull her up.

But he could not.

Filia was heavy... but she weighed _nothing_ to his kind. Yet. He. Could. Not. Pick. Her. Up.

Impossible.

Something was amiss.

"Get up!" He ordered, pushing her shoulder. Filia did not respond to this or when he kicked her lightly on her thigh. After a moment she looked up at him with pure hatred.

"I blame _you_." Filia howled.

Xellos found that to be unexpected.

"I never harmed Val." Xellos told her. He wanted to. He had the habit of sneezing on him. "Though I can't say the same for the poor dragons of this temple."

Did she not understand the gravity of the situation... that now was _not_ the time to point fingers? Had she always been _this_ delusional?

Xellos nodded to himself. She had.

"If you had been there..." Filia fumbled with her words. "Maybe... _maybe_ you could have saved Val."

Now she really had lost it. Xellos hated that brat. Why had his egg been given to her? It was foolish. She had just gone and got her child killed anyway.

"I would not have intervened." It was a lie... but he would never let her know that. The nerve of her to be so... so _Filia_ right this moment when she just sat there the last few days not doing anything about her situation.

Filia's eyes opened wide in complete misery to his response. "I... I see."

The mazoku pulled at her arm again trying to get her to move. Xellos had thought she had simply refused but there was a spell on her after all. It practically glued her to the floor. But it was a _mutual_ cast spell. One she must have consented for and could control.

"I was afraid you'd say that." Filia pried his fingers away. "That's why I'm not sorry about this. You deserve it."

Xellos was about to ask her what she meant when the room around him began to glow. The bas-reliefs began to move in tune with the room's sudden shaking and the floor cracked beneath his fit.

Filia remained motionless.

Aaah.

So she was an accomplice. This complicated things.


End file.
